The best way to be a good neighbor on St. Patrick’s Day is to make sure friends don’t get behind the wheel while impaired. The California Highway Patrol and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) are urging people to serve as designated drivers.

MADD officials said the popular holiday has become “quite dangerous” due to a large volume of impaired drivers. On St. Patrick’s Day in 2009, 37 percent of the crash fatalities that day involved alcohol, according to the MADD website.

This year the organization has coupons you can print or send to others celebrating the designated driver status. “Kiss Me…Tonight I’m DD”, and “Keep Luck on Your Side; Don’t Drink and Drive”, are available at no charge. You can even upload a photo and insert it in the middle of a four-leaf clover on the “Luck” coupon.

The CHP announced it will be on the lookout for impaired drivers this weekend.

“Driving under the influence is just not an option,” said CHP Chief Teresa Becher in a statement this week. “If you sit behind the steering wheel of a vehicle and make the decision to drink excessively and drive, you are putting lives in danger. It could be your parent, a spouse, a child, a friend, whose life maybe erased in just seconds.” [Read more…]